The Mary Sumner Blount Legacy Guild - Christ Church

Mary (“Jackie”) Sumner Blount
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Mary Sumner Blount was the daughter and wife of Revolutionary
War generals and the benefactor of Christ Episcopal
Church, Raleigh, N.C. She was born in Warren
County at the home of her father, General Jethro Sumner (1759-
1812), founder of the N.C. Society of the Cincinnati. Having emigrated
from England about 1690, the Sumners settled near Suffolk,
Nansemond County, Va.
Mary Sumner became the second wife of General Thomas
Blount of Edgecombe County, N.C., in November 1796. They
lived at a large plantation near Tarboro, N.C. Blount served as
a lieutenant in the N.C. Continental Line, was taken prisoner of
war, and later became a major general in the N.C. Militia. He
was a trustee of The University of North Carolina, on the commission
that laid out the city of Raleigh where one of the streets
bears his name, and was a member of the U.S. Congress. He is
buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Mary Sumner was left a large fortune at General Blount’s
death. She died suddenly at the home of a friend in Tarboro. In
her will she left money for the “building of a Protestant Episcopal
Church in the City of Raleigh.” Duncan Cameron of Orange
County and William Hooper of Fayetteville were named to carry
out the intent of her will. The will stated that should any person
contest the will, they were to be denied any inheritance due them.
In 1826, the present church lot was purchased and a framed
building erected.
The Reverend John Philips, a missionary who is credited
with starting the Episcopal churches in Washington and Warrenton,
N.C., was the rector at Calvary Church, Tarboro, and a great
friend to Mary Sumner Blount. It was Mr. Phillips who influenced
Mrs. Blount to make a bequest to start a church in Raleigh.
Mary Sumner Blount is buried in Calvary churchyard in Tarboro.
It is believed that a bolt of lightning destroyed her tombstone.
The present tombstone was a gift of the congregation of Christ
Church, Raleigh.
Mary Sumner Blount’s portrait was painted in Washington,
D.C. by the Italian artist Pietro Bonanni in 1820. It was a bequest
to her dear friend Moses Mordecai and now hangs in Raleigh’s
Mordecai House.